Five Local Indie Breweries in a Day!

Number of pubs: 5

Walking Distance:  Most of the route has little walking, using the 125 bus from Bolton Interchange via Horwich to Adlington. From there it is an optional 1 mile walk or taxi ride to Rivington Brewery Tap.  

Suggested Start Point:  Northern Monkey Bar, BL1 1AQ.  Close to Bolton Interchange.

Note – The Rivington Brewery Tap is not served by public transport (except on summer Sundays) and is closed Monday and Tuesday.  The Brewery Bar is closed Monday and Tuesday.  

This is a bus and walking Trip taking in the brewery taps of all four of Bolton’s breweries – Bank Top, Blackedge, Escape and Northern Monkey – plus the bonus of Rivington Brewery – brewing just outside the boundary.  

• Northern Monkey Bar, the town centre home of Northern Monkey Brewery based on the edge of Bolton Town Centre.  In summer the brewery on Chorley St opens as a true tap house.

• Bank Top Brewery Ale House, take the 125 bus to Horwich to stop at the second tap of Bank Top Brewery, established in 1995. If you have time on another day, check out the original Bank Top Brewery Tap, close to the brewery housed nearby in an attractive old pavilion.

• The Brewery Bar is a short walk or bus ride away and home to Blackedge Brewery, visible through the viewing window downstairs.

• The Old Post Office in Adlington is another few stops on the 125.  It is tap to Escape Brewery set up in 2019 and now brewing out of Westhoughton.

• Rivington Brewery Tap is a bonus stop.  You will need to take a taxi or walk the mile to the beautiful bar in the heart of the West Pennines.  Rivington Brewery is renowned for its unfiltered and unpasteurised keg and excellent cask-conditioned beers.